Balance of the Universe
by Aussie
Summary: Sequel to Cycle of the Universe.  A BtVSSG1BSG crossover.  Illyria arrives on Kobol to find that something is not right.  Meanwhile, SG1 learns about the Balance of the Universe.
1. Chapter 1

**Balance of the Universe**

**Authors Notes: **This is a sequel to "Cycle of the Universe" and it is a BSG/SG1/BtVS Crossover. The BSG elements will not come into later.

I will be using elements from the "Compelled" series (a BtVS fanfic series) located on and I have permission from the author to use these elements. This story may also, kinda, tie into the Compelled series at one time down the track.

This chapter is a rather long one too, others will not likely be this long. This is just setting up the groundwork, so the action can follow.

**Disclaimer:** All characters belong to their respective owners. I'm not making a profit from this. No copyright infringement intended.

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**Chapter 1**

Emerging from the Chapa'aii was like being imprisoned within the Deeper Well all over again. Although it had taken mere nanoseconds for her shell to be disintegrated at the Earth's Stargate and put back together at the Stargate on Kobol, Illyria's essence had been freed from the shell for that time. Her essence then proceeded to spread out through the universe, finally beginning to represent a decent portion of what Illyria had once been. This had lasted only nanoseconds, and Illyria felt as if she had lived ten human lifetimes compressed that time. However, her essence was tied to the shell, and the shell to her essence, and as the shell began to recompose on the other side of the wormhole, Illyria's essence was pulled from it's expansion and violently stuffed back into the confines of what once was Winifred Burkle's body. As a result, Illyria stumbled once her shell exited the wormhole which deposited her on Kobol, the birthplace of her race eons upon eons ago.

The first thing that she noticed was the strength at which the green was singing to her. The abundance, richness and strength of the green on this world was overwhelming to her new shell after awaking on Earth. The song of the green could not be compared to any types of song which the shell remembered. The difference between the song of the green here on Kobol and on Earth could however be likened to the difference between relaxation music played on a cassette player, and a live heavy metal performance, in terms of volume and strength. Illyria could tell that the green had inhabited this world for quite a while without interference. Of course, when she looked around, she could tell that the green inhabited the world for quite some time as well. The Stargate was on a small plateau, overlooking a large valley which was filled with thick vegetation, only vegetation. That was the only thing that Illyria could sense on the planet.

Once Illyria had regained her composure from the journey through the Stargate, she stepped down to the DHD. She pressed the activation mechanism, a large orange oval within the centre of a dais, surrounded by symbols of star constellations. She then proceeded to press a series of six symbols, the same symbols which she entered into the Stargate from Earth before dialling Kobol. She then pressed the activation mechanism again, and pressed a new set of symbols and burned them into her mind. This effectively changed the 'password' which was required to gate to Kobol from an outside source. This would serve to keep the humans from Earth from trying to follow her through the Stargate and stepping foot on her home world.

Ultimately, her plan which she had formulated to restore herself to her former glory would work out to a higher benefit than a new plan which was formulating in her mind. She would seek out her brethren who had fled Earth to Kobol in the days when the Great Alliance was imprisoning her kind within the Deeper Well. She would convince them to restore herself to her former glory: ridding herself of the confines of the shell. Then, she would convince them become her allies, and together they would make the galaxy know what the definition of an Old One really was. However, if that did not work out, Illyria had already developed a new plan based on her experience travelling through the Stargate while confined to a shell. She may be able to use the Stargate to rid herself of the shell permanently if she were able to interrupt the flow of matter between wormholes, and that was a possibility which needed consideration seeing as she had been freed for a couple of nanoseconds when travelling through the Stargate.

Stargate Command

Cameron Mitchell, Samantha Carter, Teal'c, General Landry and himself, Daniel Jackson, were sitting in Stargate Command's briefing room for a debriefing regarding the events concerning Illyria. It was remarkable to Daniel Jackson, that if they were right in their assumptions, and that Illyria had been telling the truth, they had been talking to a being which was older than anything they could possibly imagine. From what he could gather, Illyria in her time, had gone far, far, far beyond ascension.

"From what we've been able to observe, the Stargate coordinates which Illyria gated to, lead to a vast expanse of nothing within the Milky Way galaxy, relatively close to the outer reaches of the galaxy," Samantha Carter explained. "It could be that the first set of six chevrons which engaged on the Stargate acted with the second set of seven chevrons to guide the Stargate to another location, however we believe that this is unlikely."

"What do you think is likely Sam?" General Landry asked. Daniel could tell that Carter looked hesitant with what she was about to say.

"We think that there may be a local region of space, perhaps hundreds of light years across, which may be out of phase with this reality, or may be cloaked in some way," Carter said. "However, the power and technology required to do something like that would be astronomical. The Asgard wouldn't be able to come close to generating enough power to set that up in the next hundred years general," Sam explained.

"What would happen if we went to this part of space?" General Landry asked.

"We don't know sir," Carter replied.

"I think that it would be wise not to go near this section of space General Landry," Teal'c said. "If Illyria's race, if that is whom inhabits this section of space, have the ability to hide an entire section of the galaxy, I do not think it would be wise to go there when one of them have instructed us not to do so." Daniel had to agree with that assessment frankly.

Suddenly and without warning, a beam of bright white light filled the room and the occupants found themselves looking at a small grey creature who went by the name of Thor, Supreme Commander of the Asgard Fleet, and was sitting in a relatively large seat. Moments later, another being appeared beside Thor in the same manner, but this one appeared to be human dressed in strange clothes. She was Lya of the Nox. As soon as Illyria had departed Stargate Command, the SGC got in touch with Thor and gave a brief outline of recent events.

"Greetings SG1 and General Landry," Thor announced.

"Thor, long time no see," Daniel said to him. "It's a surprise to see you here Lya."

"Indeed, it has been a long time since you have glanced at my physical form," Thor replied.

"Thor advised us of the message you sent them, and contacted the Nox immediately. I agreed to come to this meeting," Lya replied. "Your message was most disturbing."

"Yes, Illyria's escape from the Deeper Well is a matter of grave importance. Perhaps you could tell us what you know of the situation?" Thor asked getting right down to business. "How were you able to control her?" he asked further.

"We didn't really control her, she seemed reasonable enough. Apart from threatening to destroy this base and rip us limb from limb for not complying with her actions," he said.

"She was reasonable enough and only threatened us with words. She simply wanted to get off this world. We allowed her to after an exchange of information," Daniel replied. "And then we let her through the Chapa'aii." If an Asgard could have looked stunned, Daniel was sure that Thor would have looked the part at that moment.

"If the being you say is Illyria, then it would certainly not require access to a Chapa'aii to travel off world," Thor said. "Illyria lacks a physical form and will only take on one, or several variations of her physical form at once if it wishes so," Thor replied.

"According to Illyria, it was resurrected into a person and she does not have the majority of her former power," Teal'c said. Daniel watched as Lya and Thor looked at each other, perplexed.

Kobol

It had been three hours since Illyria had arrived on Kobol, and she was very surprised and frustrated that she had only picked up on it now. Amongst the song of the green, another message was being cast out across the planet, significantly different than that of the green. The sheer volume and amount that the green sang to her had prevented her from noticing it before now. She had trekked as far from the Stargate as she could, and had now stopped in the middle of the forest, dead still. She was concentrating her energies to re-focus her senses to the other message which was being played out across the landscape. As she did so, she began to get a sense which was vile to her, and it infected everything on the planet. It was the presence of The First Evil. It was just in the background of everything on the planet. Illyria could look at the dirt, and see dirt, but if she dug a little deeper and used her senses more, she'd sense The First Evil, percolating throughout everything.

Illyria could sense that the message which was being played across the landscape had been created by her brethren, thirteen of them which came to this planet to mould a human civilization greater than no other. It had failed, as The First Evil played the Old Ones against each other, and eventually led to a civil war between both the Old Ones and their relevant human factions. In the last days of the war, Iblis under the influence of The First Evil had imbued the witches of Inanna, Aphrodite, Zeus and Apollo with his own power, and turned them against their respective gods, killing them in the process. The resulting conflict had ended up too great for each of the Old Ones and their tribes. Athena had been trapped within the confines of a human shell, much like Illyria was now, and had attempted to destroy the shell to escape the prison it trapped herself within. It was then that the remaining human tribes decided to flee to a new world, leaving behind all those who wished for further bloodshed, allowing them to kill each other off.

Illyria could now sense something else which was giving off a faint signature on the planet, however for her current senses, it was too far away to detect. From what she could tell, it was on the other side of the planet, and it would take too long for her to trek to it.

After learning the story of her brethren which fled here during the time that she was fighting against being imprisoned within the Deeper Well, Illyria was quite alarmed. Her brethren were not here, and they had fled to other worlds. Although the origin of the anomaly on the other side of the planet may give up further information, it was clear to Illyria that she had hit a dead end with her plan. It was also clear, that she would need a ship to gain access to the other side of the planet, as well as to gain access to other planets now, seeking out where her brethren journeyed to.

It was also concerning to Illyria that there was no evidence of her race's presence upon the planet eons before. As far as they knew, this was the planet at which they had evolved, but yet there was no evidence of that here; none that Illyria could tell of at the moment anyway. With that, Illyria turned around and began her trek back to the Stargate. Once there, she would journey to a world which hopefully had a ship, and liberate the ship from that world for her own purposes.

Stargate Command

They had told Thor about the events which led up to Illyria using the Stargate to travel to a world which she identified as her home world. Upon hearing this, and seeing the Stargate coordinates, Thor advised SG1 and General Landry that they had been keeping an eye on that section of space for quite a while now, and that not even they knew what was shielding it from the outside world. He also added that they could not enter that section of space without being destroyed. The real surprise was when he mentioned the fact that they had been tracking a number of ships which had recently emerged from the anomaly, and that they had a completely unique jump-drive which was near instantaneous.

"We believe that a number of the Old Ones fled Earth into the spatial anomaly, taking with them some second-generation humans. From our remote scans of the ships which have emerged from the anomaly, it appears that one group of ships is full of humans, while another group is full of unidentified life-signs. We believe that the humans which are coming from the anomaly may be descendants of the humans which the Old Ones took from earth, some 10,000 years ago," Thor explained. There was a brief silence, before the Nox representative spoke up.

"Do you know how Illyria was resurrected?" she asked SG1 and the General.

"All that we know is that she was revived and took over the body of Winifred Burkle and that she now has less power than she used to have before she was trapped in this, Deeper Well," the General replied.

"What do you know of the person which Illyria was resurrected into," Lya of the Nox asked. Daniel watched as Carter pulled out her file from the stack of documents she had in front of her.

"Winifred Burkle was born in Texas, a state of our country, and attended university majoring in physics. Then, in her final year of her university, she disappeared for a number of years. She then re-appeared as an employee for Angel Investigations, and then later Wolfram and Hart, a lawyer company," Carter recited. "Apart from that, there's not much else we know." Upon mentioning Ms. Burkle's previous job positions, Daniel saw a look of concern cross Lya's face.

"You seem concerned Lya," Daniel queried. He watched as her face went blank, and she seemed to spend a couple of moments collecting her thoughts.

"This world is located on a significant weak point between a number of different dimensions," Lya began. "If a hole appears, or the walls between dimensions are breached, it would have very serious consequences for life within this universe. A number of years ago, various attempts were made to breach these walls," Lya explained. Daniel knew that the punch line was gong to be the next sentence which came out of Lya's mouth. "We believe that Wolfram and Hart were responsible," Lya said.

"So you're telling me that an earth law firm was responsible for attempting to bring down the walls which separate us from other dimensions?" General Landry asked.

"Yes," Lya replied. There was a pause before she continued, "Wolfram and Hart are not a law organisation on your planet. Rather, they are an organisation which spans dimensions, and which is run by a trifecta of beings which, to put it so you would understand, have ascended a number of levels higher than the Ancients," Lya explained.

"Lya, if you knew of this threat, then why not did you tell us of it?" Teal'c asked.

"There are already a number of checks and balances present on this world which counter the actions of Wolfram and Hart," Lya explained. Daniel didn't know what she meant, and judging from the blank looks which everyone was wearing around the room, no one else did either.

"I was wondering if you could explain that statement further Lya?" Daniel asked.

"From what we can comprehend, the forces in the universe are at competition. To you, these forces are known as Good and Evil. The concepts associated with these words in your language do not describe the forces properly. Rather, think of them as a positive and a negative force. These two forces are in competition, and have been since the dawn of time. This competition has resulted in a stalemate, or equilibrium, which has lasted for eons," Lya explained. "These forces, the positive and negative, have a number of different representatives across dimensions and levels of ascension. As far as we know, across all dimensions, this is most evident on Earth in each dimension, for some unknown reason, but it is evident elsewhere. These forces, such as Wolfram and Hart, are relatively equally matched, and fight against each other for supremacy in order to tip the equilibrium a certain way. There are a number of representatives from the opposite side of Wolfram and Hart present on Earth which counter the actions of Wolfram and Hart," Lya explained. She allowed for a break to let the information she was divulging to sink in. "You said that Illyria mentioned that her race's power waxed and waned. This cycle of power which their race was subject to, was directly tied into the equilibrium between positive and negative within the universe. When the equilibrium was stable and even, the Old Ones would be at their maximum power, however when the balance was shifted in either way, their power would decrease substantially," Lya explained. "From what we know of the Old Ones, they are the oldest creatures we have ever come across, although we know of older ones which have moved on from this reality," Lya said.

"On their journey from their home galaxy, The Ancients passed through each galaxy which the three other races of The Great Alliance inhabited. When they came upon this galaxy and encountered the Old Ones, they saw that they were very violent, and immensely powerful," Thor said. "They alerted us to their presence, and we all saw them as a threat to our races, so we formed an alliance and declared war."

"What we did not know at the time, was that each consciousness of a single being of the Old Ones existed across multiple dimensions at once," Lya said.

"What do you mean by that? That each Old One had other copies of it in a different reality?" Carter asked. Daniel watched as Lya shook her head.

"No, each consciousness existed within multiple dimensions at once," Lya explained. "As all four dimensions, the three spatial dimensions and time, are dimensions which govern our existence, several realities were the dimensions for the one being. The same consciousness existed outside of several dimensions," Lya said. "And that they were tied to the balance of positive and negative in the universe. When the equilibrium shifted one way, the Old Ones would use themselves, and all creatures which were not as powerful as them, to move the equilibrium back to neutral by fighting against the forces which disturbed the equilibrium in the first place," Lya said.

Lya continued on to explain; "This was done by immensely large wars between opposing forces, until the opposite side lost enough that the scale would be tipped… When we fought against the Old Ones and imprisoned them within the Deeper Well, we did not know that we were removing the 'keepers' so to say, of the equilibrium between positive and negative within the universe. Therefore, the walls between dimensions thinned greatly from what they once were, and the vampyr virus was released by the Old Ones. The vampyr virus fought back against us all, each the Nox, Asgard, Ancients, and the Furlings, until the balance was restored. Once the balance was restored however, the opposing forces created warriors within multiple realms to fight against the vampyrs and creatures which could now move between dimensions," Lya explained. "Those creatures which had just been used as pawns by the Old Ones, such as Wolfram and Hart, moved up and started to take on a larger role. As you would say, the playing field, reduced dramatically, and the equilibrium is now kept here on Earth, by opposing forces. Wolfram and Hart are now a significant body on one side, and there are forces operating here on Earth which oppose them," Lya explained.

"Our intervention before with the Old Ones sought to completely change the rules and types of life forms which inhabited this galaxy, and surely had implications across other realities also," Thor explained. The beings which once inhabited this galaxy, are long extinct indirectly because of the decline of the Old Ones. The Asgard, Furlings, Nox and Ancients are responsible for that mass extinction. Further interference with the equilibrium by us could rapidly change life within the galaxy again, wiping out billions of lives. We are guilty enough and have learned from our mistakes," Thor said.

"So shouldn't it be a relatively good thing that Illyria's been reborn? Wouldn't she oversee the balance, as you say?" Mitchell asked.

"The Old Ones are aware of the equilibrium of the universe, but their actions are not governed by it, as neither are ours. It is impossible to govern your actions by the equilibrium of the universe," Lya explained. "For example, say that you attacked an Ori village tomorrow, and the Ori retaliated against Earth the day after," Lya began. "Would you not launch a counter-offensive because it may tip the equilibrium? Certainly not, you would retaliate in kind," Lya said. "The Old Ones are no different. Their power, and the scope of their actions, determine the equilibrium. I believe that Illyria will be seeking vengeance against our races, as well as any other forces which it sees as doing it wrong. This is not to balance the equilibrium, but meanly vengeance. It is likely however, that her actions will shift the equilibrium in a certain direction, which will vastly affect this dimension," Lya explained.

"Couldn't the Ancients stop her though?" General Landry said.

"Not if she regains her former power. If this happens, it will likely require cooperation between the Ancients and the Ori to subdue her. I know that this will not occur, so she will proceed to destroy each side seperately, or simply wait until they destroy each other," Lya said. "However, we do know that a number of champions for one side perished a few years ago. The resurrection and imprisonment of Illyria may be a counter-measure by the opposing side to restore the balance," Lya explained. Daniel was just getting more and more confused from what was being said, and was having a hard time taking it all in for starters. "In other words, we do not know why Illyria was resurrected, but we do know that the affects she has on the galaxy will be large."

"Lya, Thor," General Landry stated. "I know that you have just dropped a lot of information in our laps. I wish to have a few minutes with my people so that this can sink in. Can we reconvene in two hours?" he asked.

"Yes, I am agreeable to this arrangement," Thor replied.

"As am I," Lya stated.

"Walter will show you to our guest facilities," Landry said while waving for Walter to come into the briefing room.

"That will not be necessary General Hammond. Myself and Lya will retire to the _Daniel Jackson_ in orbit," Thor said. Daniel saw Thor turn to Lya, and overheard him speak to her before they beamed up.

"It has been a long time since we have had a Nox in our company. We now have purple sustenance cubes which are quite tasteful," he said before the pair of them disintegrated in the white flash of an Asgard Transporters beam.

In the two hours which passed, SG1 and the General had gone over everything that Thor and Lya had told them. It was a lot to take in, but they decided that they'd help Lya and Thor do whatever they needed to do. Additionally, they decided that they might delve a little deeper into the Wolfram and Hart issue, as well as look for some of the opposing forces which Lya had mentioned were present on Earth. Lya and Thor had just returned, and upon hearing the decision of the SGC, advised them that Lya will return to help them investigate the circumstances surrounding Illyria's resurrection.

Before Lya and Thor left however, Daniel realised something which he needed to ask Lya.  
"Lya, I've just realised something. Surely knowing all this about the balance of the universe and everything is something which leads a race towards Ascension. If the ancients have ascended, I was wondering why haven't the Nox, if you don't mind me asking that is," Daniel queried.

"There are many planes of existence Daniel Jackson, the Ancients have just ascended to one of them which does not require a physical form. The Old Ones exist on a different plane of existence again, and also possessed a physical form… Who is to say that we, the Nox, have not ascended, Daniel Jackson?" Lya said before disappearing in a flash of light of the Asgard transport beam.

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Reviews are most welcome! 


	2. Chapter 2

**Authors Notes:**

Long time, no update. For that, I'm sorry. I've had a lot of stuff happening, and I mean A LOT of stuff happening. If I were to explain what had been happening to me in the last two months, I think I could write a year-long soap-opera, and then some. I haven't abandoned this story, don't worry.

As for the future direction of the story, eventually we will meet most characters of all crossovers currently involved (BtVS/Angel/BSG/SG1) or find out what's happened to them in this story. BUT WAIT, there's more. An ADDITIONAL CROSSOVER has been introduced in this chapter! It'll be a hoot when you find out!

Also, I've fixed the discrepencies (Asgard not surviving in "cycle of the universe" and then being alive in "Balance of the Universe", but i've got to find some time to re-upload new chapters of "Cycle of the Universe" first. Thanks for alterting me to that reviewers! Also, from this chapter, you'll probably be able to tell that i'm much better at writing Buffy characters than any else.

**Chapter 2**

Unidentified Free Jaffa World

Illyria was again taken aback from the journey through the Stargate. It had been so long since she had been free that the journey through the Stargate, which could be measured in nanoseconds, seemed liberating. Again, she stumbled as she exited the Stargate. She was surprised at what she saw when she looked up however; ten Jaffa guards standing at her, all with staff weapons pointing in her direction. It was obvious by the construction being undertaken around the Stargate and the numerous civilians around, that the Jaffa facing her were there to guard the gate.

"I require one of your ships," Illyria stated. She was met with numerous staff weapons activating and pointing at her.

"We will not give you one of our ships, stranger," one of the Jaffa replied.

"It was not a question," Illyria replied. She had expected the Jaffa not to welcome her suggestion for them to give her one of their ships, and within moments had begun to move towards the Jaffa faster than they had ever expected.

Illyria had managed to overcome the Jaffa guards and find a small cargo ship, capable of hysperspace travel. She would use it to return to Kobol. Even though the spatial anomaly placed around the region of space surrounding Kobol would prevent the ship from crossing it, Illyria was heading to what her people knew as the Ionian Nebula, the only passage through to the space within the anomaly.

Stargate Command

Samantha Carter sat in her lab, looking absolutely shocked. They had removed their only avenue of research into Wolfram and Hart and supposed 'other' organisations on Earth which were more than what they seemed. Half an hour ago, Carter was called into the General's office where she found out that her research into the collapse of the Wolfram and Hart Offices in Los Angeles five years ago, had resulted in the President of the United States issuing Stargate Command with an order to cease all research into Wolfram and Hart. She had asked General Landry if he knew why this had happened, but apparently his clearance wasn't high enough to know.

"This is ridiculous Daniel. Lya is expected here within the next two hours, and we have no leads or anything to go on to track down Wolfram and Hart," Carter said.

"Our hands are tied Colonel," General Landry replied. "The President has stated that we can not look into Wolfram and Hart for any reasons," he continued.

"Maybe Mitchell's suggestion that the President is in Wolfram and Hart's pocket isn't too far out," Daniel replied. Before either of them could ponder the issue any further, alarm claxons began to sound all throughout the SGC and 'unscheduled offworld activation' blared over the loudspeaker. Samantha Carter and Daniel Jackson immediately left Carter's lab and headed towards the control room.

Upon arriving to the control room, Carter looked down to see that Lya had just stepped thorugh the Stargate, closely followed by two additional members of the Nox.

"Carter, Jackson, meet myself and Lya in the meeting room in ten minutes," Landry said as he was leaving the control room and and heading towards the Stargate.

Ten minutes later, General Landry, Cameron Mitchell, Teal'c, Samantha Carter, Daniel Jackson and all three of the Nox were sitting around the briefing room table. The other two Nox had been introduced as Interprid and Tryn.

"Lya, we understand that you've come to track down those who released Illyria from this prision she was being held in," Landry stated.

"The Deeper Well," Lya corrected. "And yes, once we know how and why Illyria was released, we can begin to formulate a strategy to place Illyria back there if necessary," she explained.

"Why wouldn't it be necessary? From what I understand, a being that powerful should be locked up, especially if she can challenge the ancients if she gets her old mojo back," Mitchell stated.

"She might have been resurrected for a purpose, if so, likely to fight something which may be comming," Tryn, one of the Nox replied. "If Wolfram and Hart is involved, as we suspect, it is likely that they may be seeking to grab power on this world and others, using Illyria, however they should have known that Illyria would consider them inferior and not conform to their wishes," the Nox said.

"We've tried to obtain some information on Wolfram and Hart, however our President has ordered us to cease investigating all aspects of Wolfram and Hart," Carter stated. It was obvious to Sam that all the members of SG1, including herself, had similar thoughts about that subject, and they were along the lines of what Daniel had said to her earlier in her lab not twenty minutes ago.

"Shouldn't we be out there trying to get to the address that Illyria gated to to try and track her down?" Mitchell asked.

"An understanding of where your opponents have come from and any possible influences on their behaviour is required in order to assess their strategy and next likely move," Lya replied. Carter was suprised at that. The Nox generally tended to be excessively non-violent, but yet Lya was demonstrating very thorough knowledge of combat tactics. "The Asgard are attempting to find a way to breach the spatial anomaly which surrounds the region of space around the address Illyria travelled to using the Stargate," Interprid, one of the other Nox stated.

"I believe that we must locate the current Slayer and consult her. It is likely that she will at least have knowledge of why Illyria was released," Lya said.

"Slayer?" Daniel and Landry queried at once.

"A chosen human embodied with the spirit of a demon in order to combat the vampires and demons created upon the release of the vampyr virus into the human population and various demons which inhabit this world," Lya said. "The Slayer essence transfers to a new body once it's current body dies," Lya further explained.

"Is the host always female?" Daniel asked.

"Yes," Lya replied.

"There are various references to a female who fought the darkness throughout various ancient cultures, especially the sumerains," Daniel stated. "I didn't think that any of them were real," he stated.

"I'm still trying to get over the fact that there were once real vampires here, don't get me wrong, but why's this Slayer still around then if there's no more of them?" Mitchell asked. Carter watched as all three Nox looked at each other in confusion.

"We were not aware that the vampires had been forced to extinction," Lya stated. "When we checked ten years ago, there were still hundreds of thousands of them populating this world," she explained. Carter could feel her mouth almost hit the floor. According to the Nox, ten years ago, there had been hundreds of thousands of vampires on the planet. She was sure that maybe they were detecting something wrong, but they were the Nox. "If you will allow us some time and some privacy, we will locate the current Slayer," Lya said, looking to General Hammond for permission to do so.

"By all means Lya," Landry said. Carter watched as each of the Nox left the room, escorted by numerous body guards to a room which they could have to themselves, leaving everyone remaining in the briefing room in shock.

Cleveland Watchers Council Headquarters

Willow was walking thorugh the corridors thinking about what she needed to do. The new Watchers Council was up and running, and as head of the science and magic division, she was easily kept busy. She was staying at the Cleveland Watchers Council Headquarters for a few days to oversee the development of a new coven being encouraged by the Council, as well as to stop into the "College for Gifted Individuals" which was being run by the Watchers Council on the other side of the town. The college was the area where all the new Slayers were trained as well as schooled, while the Council's headquarters was where all of other duties of the newfound Watchers Council occured, such as strategising, and research and development. Additionally, the Cleveland headquarters served as the administrative centre for all Slayers which were in the field in this half of the US; dispatching various assignments and rotating Slayers according to their schedules.

From Willow's two days she'd been at the Cleveland Headquarters, she was impressed. They'd made a few developments regarding the integration of science and technological devices, as well as dug up some information Willow had been looking for for a while now. They were also recruiting magic users at a steady rate for the local coven which they were helping to set up. Additionally, there were no casualties within the region, a few near misses but no fatalaties. To Willow, it seemed as if everything was going too easy since they had managed to contain the demon hoard released by Wolfram and Hart in central Los Angeles five years ago. There had barely been anything to register on the proverbial radar, so to speak, since that date. Except Illyria. She had shown up not too long after the Wolfram and Hart situation had been contained; before the Council had been set up properly and the Scoobies and some additional Slayers had been in Europe tackling another apocalypse. Illyria was definately something that registered on the radar, but interestingly, she hadn't made a move against Willow or her group. She actually stayed with them for about six months before getting fed up and going eslewhere. Willow had been tracking her for the last three years, but lately she had disappeared off the grid and Willow couldn't find her anywhere. She knew that she could try harder to look for Illyria, but apart from a few minor instancs, Illyria seemed to be keeping out of torube. Apart from that, there had barely been any large activity at all. A number of people in the Council were concerned about it, Willow included, but there were others which argued that it was because of the abundance of Slayers. Willow didn't doubt that the abundane of Slayers was a major contributing factor, but she always knew that when you got a major power boost like that, something came back to hit you hard. It was the way of nature, and the way tha the universe worked in general.

Willow had accomplished all she needed to achieve at the headquarters, but she didn't quite want to leave the headquarters and go to the college because she didn't want to have a confrontation with Kennedy. She was one of the people running the Cleveland College for Gifted Individuals, and since their breakup a year ago, it had always been awkward whenever they had been in the same room together. Willow began to think of ways to try to avoid Kennedy if possible, when she was distracted by a sense she began to feel in the back of her head. Two seconds later, a man popped into existance not four metres in front of her, looking around and taking in his surroundings. Willow knew that it was impossible for anyone to teleport through the wards and barriers that had been put up around the Cleveland headquarters, yet this man was standing before her. He was average height, with dark hair and intense eyes. She closed her eyes for a moment and let her senses expand ten fold; letting the earth talk to her and tell her what was around her. She could sense every breath, and every heartbeat of the man standing before her. Willow could see the aura of the man standing in front of her, and while it told her he was human, it also told her that there was something different about him. She didn't need to use magic to tell her that the man had seen many hardships in his life, and that these had led to experience when dealing with these situations.

"Don't move," Willow commanded. She saw the man spin around and look at her and take a step back. Willow sent out a warning telepathically to all of the other people within the headquarters. One of the other witches in the building communicated that they were sending four Slayers to her location and that they'd be there shortly. Willow was then suprised to sense the man attempting to penetrate her thoughts and read her mind, and she violently repelled him. She saw him falter backwards, and saw some blood starting to trickle from his nose. Maybe she repelled him a bit too harshly.

"Willow Rosenberg?" he asked. Willow was taken aback by how he knew her name, knowing that he wouldn't have been able to penetrate any of her thoughts, her own magical defenses would have automatically defended her.

"Slayers are already on their way here," Willow stated, still dumbfounded as to how he could have teleported through their magical shilelds and wards.

"Look, I don't mean you any harm," the man said while stepping forward.

"I said, don't move," Willow exclaimed.

"Are you Willow Rosenberg?" the man asked again. Willow decided to answer him.

"Yes," she replied.

"My name is Peter Petrelli, and I'm here to protect you," the man said second before two of the four Slayers which were on the way to their location came around the corner.


	3. Chapter 3

**Authors Notes: **Longer chapter here. Expect more frequent updates, as I have a plan for this story into the foreseeable future. Remember, the more you review, the faster the chapters come.

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**Chapter 3**

Illyria pulled the Jaffa cargo ship that she had stolen from them out of Hyperspace, seeing that she had only just arrived at the Ionian Nebula. The passage through most of the nebula needed to be navigated in normal-space. Knowing that it would take hundreds of years to do that, Illyria planned on navigating in normal-space, and making a series of hyperspace jumps within the nebula to the next 'waypoint' so to say. Half of her mind couldn't believe that she had been reduced to such trivialities; having to navigate her way into a region of space which had been created by her race to keep lesser creatures out. She immediately dismissed such trivialities entering her mind, deciding to begin the journey through the nebula. She closed her eyes and concentrated, letting the senses of the Old One locked inside her shell expand. In the time since Angel made his stand against the forces of the Wolf, Ram and Hart in the alley that night, Illyria had noticed that her power was returning to her slowly, very slowly. The dimensional walls between her and the pocket dimension Wesley's Mutari Generator had stored her essence were not enough to keep them separated. It wasn't that the dimensional walls weren't strong enough to keep her essence from returning to her being, it was simply that her essence was seeping through the dimensional walls, slowly returning to her. It was bound to her as much as Illyria was now bound to this shell; and her power was returning to her because of that bond.

Illyria now focused on that power which she had within her, and used it to shift her consciousness to another plane of reality. Much like hyperspace, the reality existed along-side the one she was in now, and it could be used for a variety of purposes. She expanded her senses within the reality by a scale of multiple orders of magnitude. Illyria did not need to open the eyes of the shell; she could see the path through the multi-dimensional barrier which had been erected around the local region of space surrounding Kobol. It weaved and twisted like a snake, through a vortex of intense energies which would destroy her if anything tried to enter the region of space from another way. It was then, to Illyria's surprise that she sensed something else within the passage. Someone else was here. Focusing, Illyria began to search for the entity or entities, when she felt a fluctuation in the barrier surrounding the Ionian Nebula. She decided that the presence she felt would have to wait, and used her consciousness to explore the source of the fluctuations. Soon, she discovered an Asgard ship situated not too far away, on a cosmic scale, shooting a variety of instruments into the barrier; one of which managing to puncture the barrier slightly. Instantly, Illyria's consciousness crashed back down into her shell. The other presence which she had sensed within the Ionian Nebula would have to wait. Turning the cargo ship towards the Asgard ship, Illyria entered it into hyperspace. Within an hour, she would emerge from hyperspace alongside the Asgard ship, which needed to be dealt with immediately. Illyria did not know how she would deal with it, with the current restrictions of her shell; the Asgard probably having the means of restricting her now in her physical form; not the other way around.

Cleveland Watchers Council Headquarters

Willow looked at the man in front of her, and was curious towards him. His aura didn't give any indication that he was lying, but there were many ways of masking that. If he could get through the magical wards surrounding the building, he would certainly be capable of masking his aura.

"Wait," Willow said to the two Slayers which were approaching the man.

"Protect me from what?" Willow asked.

"The Government," he replied. "They're coming to get you, and they've got some pretty funky friends."

"Which Government?" Willow asked, seeing as she was registered as a resident in half a dozen countries around the world.

"I don't know. The American government I think," Peter replied.

"I can handle the government," Willow replied, knowing full well that the government was fairly low on her list of 'potentially threatening things to Willow'. "How did you get in here?" Willow asked him.

"I walked in," the man, Peter, replied.

"No you didn't," Willow replied immediately. "I saw you appear out of thin air," she continued, playing dumb. She looked to the remaining two Slayers who had turned up, making a total of four, surrounding the man in front of her. Willow saw the man looking uneasily at the stakes the Slayers were holding. "How did you get past the wards?" Willow asked.

"Wards?" he replied, glancing at her and then glancing at the Slayers around him.

"Yeah, wards. Those things I put up to prevent people from teleporting into this place," Willow replied.

"Look, I don't know how I did that," the man replied. Willow could tell that he was telling the truth, but that still didn't answer the question of how he had gotten past all the wards. "All I know is that I was told to find Willow Rosenberg and protect her," the man continued.

"Protect me from what? I think I'm pretty well protected," Willow replied, eyeing off the four Slayers surrounding the man. Willow was the most powerful witch in the world, who was sane anyway, and she didn't need much protection anymore. She could handle herself, and if not, there were literally hundreds of witches and thousands of Slayers within the new Watchers' Council. There wasn't much anyone could do to touch her, or any of the higher ranking members within the Council these days. "Who told you that I needed protection?" Willow asked further, wondering who had sent this man here. He looked fairly naive, however his eyes and his aura conveyed other things. Willow could tell that his life recently had changed, and had hardened him.

"That's complicated," the man replied. Willow wasn't buying into it though.

"Look. You just teleported into here, which shouldn't be possible. This is one of the most secure installations in the world, and you just appeared here. I think you need to un-complicate it," Willow said, getting frustrated.

"Charles Deveaux told me that I needed to protect you. He's dead," the man replied. "I also saw into the future. You were being locked away in some sort of containment cell by the government," the man replied. Again, Willow read his aura, and he was convinced he was telling the truth. Willow was going to take a few moments to consider what they were going to do with him, but then she realised that they didn't have to. He had breached their security, he'd be put in a cell until they figured out whether he was a risk or not, and how he had managed to get past the magical barriers surrounding the complex.

It was at that moment when Willow felt something in the air around them shift and change. She told the Slayers to keep Mr. Petrelli where he was. Her extended senses picked up subtle changes in the energy signature of the entire region around her. Subtle undertones of energy and magic which flowed through everything around them were subtly fluxing and changing beyond their natural fluctuations; whereas a moment ago, it was all normal. Willow closed her eyes and searched out the phenomenon with her mind, and was surprised to see that it was happening more around every Slayer in the complex. Immediately, Willow let herself be immersed in the immense energy of the earth beneath her feet, the air around her, the energy from the sun, and the tiny molecules of water which flowed around her. She used this energy as an anchor, and with her own power, expanded her senses fifty-fold. Willow was connected to the Scythe, and the Slayers were connected to it too. This meant that Willow was indirectly connected to all the Slayers. She used this fact to search for other Slayers in the greater region, and saw that the anomaly was more focused around them as well. An instant after Willow did so, the energy pattern which was focused on each Slayer, all came together and focused on her at once. It was then that Willow was able to realise what it was. The energy was acting as a feeler. Someone, or something, very powerful had been looking for the Slayers, and when Willow interfered, it then readjusted its focus entirely onto her. Summoning up strength, Willow investigate the energy which was now focusing on her. What she found was startling. There were a number of separate consciousnesses, and they were very old, and very strong. How old, she couldn't tell; not Illyria old, but old enough to be stronger than an experienced magic user on Earth. Luckily, Willow was far beyond experienced by this stage. Using her vast experience with magic and fighting demons, Willow feigned an attempt to block them off, while using part of her consciousness to find the beings who were doing this. It was to her surprise when she traced them back to an underground complex in Colorado Springs. The beings which had been seeking out the Slayers were strong, but tactically, they sucked. It wasn't until they were able to sense Willow's successful attempt to find them that they cut her off and repelled Willow's consciousness back into her body; too late to prevent Willow from finding them and finding out a little bit about them.

Willow fell back from the mental and magical repulsion by the three entities which had been tracking them down. Once she got up, she noticed that her nose was bleeding and wiped the blood away with her hand.

"Protect me from the government you say," Willow said to Peter Petrelli, now not doubting him as much as she did a few moments before.

Stargate Command

General Landry found himself trying to digest the information the Nox had recently divulged to himself and SG1. There had been a young girl throughout history fighting monsters of myth and legend, being put through tremendous hardships and seeing things that no young girl should see. It was preposterous. Landry was also concerned that the government didn't know anything about it. Surely if creatures which the vampire myth was based on were present on Earth, someone, somewhere would have heard about it. It was then that Landry realised that someone probably did know about it and that the reason that no one knew about it was because that certain someone was making sure that the truth remained hidden; much like the Stargate was being hidden from the world at the moment. Still, America had to bring in other countries once they got suspicious, and if these creatures had been on Earth since the time of the Ancients, then more than one group of people must have noticed them. The group or groups who were covering this up had to have some serious political pull, and Landry realised that the group may be much more powerful than The Trust ever was or ever could be.

Landry saw Walter approaching. It was no surprise when he said that the Nox had finished their business and were proceeding back to the briefing room. It was surprising that while the Nox conducted their search, by whatever means they did, none of the surveillance equipment which was within the area recorded anything; all of them recording two hours of static. Landry dismissed Walter and headed to the briefing room. Simultaneously, he arrived with SG1 and only a few moments later, the Nox arrived.

"Please, have a seat," Landry said, gesturing towards one side of the briefing room table. The Nox sat down, and Landry could tell that they had found something unexpected.

"General Landry, SG1, we have found something most unexpected," Lya said, almost as if she could read Landry's mind. Landry felt himself nodding, prompting Lya to continue. "When the Slayer was first created, a small fraction of the essence of a demon was combined with a human, and a number of restrictions placed upon that essence. The primary one being that only one Slayer could exist at a time," Lya started. Landry saw a number of the members of SG1 nod their heads in understanding. "When a Slayer was to die, the demon essence would then be transferred to the next possible candidate. This would ensure that one, and only one, Slayer would exist. We searched for the current Slayer, but did not find her," Lya said. She paused for emphasis. "We found thousands of them. Every person who had the potential to become a Slayer at some stage, now is one," Lya said. "We continued our investigations, and found that there was one person who was connected to all the Slayers, but was not a Slayer herself," Lya expressed. "We believe that this person is responsible for changing the Slayer doctrine. We wish to speak with her" Lya concluded. Landry took in the information, but he felt that there was something that the Nox wasn't telling him.

"We will do all that we can to accommodate your request," Landry replied, "however I get the feeling that there's something you're not telling us." He watched as all three Nox looked at each other, before Interprid of the Nox spoke up.

"This person, Willow Rosenberg is her name, is very powerful. One of the most powerful witches we have encountered on this world in recent history. She is more controlled and grounded than most. She was able to trace us back to this facility, and I believe that she will come here, searching for us," Interprid said.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Stargate Command

The Nox had indicated that they wished to stay on base in case this Willow Rosenberg showed up, so they were escorted to the visitors quarters, while SG1 and General Landry discussed the recent meeting.

"Its not possible General," Carter replied. "If this magic existed, and was able to be used, don't you think we would have come across some people who used it at least somewhere in the galaxy?" Mitchell had to agree with Carter's assessment. If these people could do the things that the Nox were talking about, and were able to track whatever the Nox had done back to them, surely they'd have come across some people somewhere who had used it, and had evidence of it.

"I've been thinking about that," Landry said, interrupting Mitchell's thoughts. "Yes, somewhere, someone would have come across people with these abilities," he started. "Even a government, somewhere, would have come across these people. However, the reason we might not know about it is because someone very powerful may not want us to know about it," Landry said. "If there are other organisations like Wolfram and Hart, a corporate front for a much darker organisation which spans across alternate universes, if what the Nox and Asgard say is true, then there would surely be others. They might have enough sway and political power to cover something like this up. Much like we've been covering up the Stargate," the General explained. To Colonel Mitchell, that made perfect sense. "I've already called the President about the matters which have arisen since Illyria used the Stargate. He said that he would be sending a delegation to the SGC, due to arrive later today, which would shed some light on the matter," Landry explained.

"It almost sounds like the President knows more than we do about this," Mitchell said.

"I would agree," Teal'c said, supporting Mitchell's claim.

"As do I," General Landry commented. "The delegation will be here at 1600 hours. SG1, I would like you to be present when they arrive."

"Will the Nox be attending?" Daniel asked.

"I asked the President, and he stated that all members of the delegation have security clearance high enough to be briefed of the Nox. I will be asking the Nox if they wish to attend after we convene here," Landry explained.

Cleveland Watchers Council Headquarters

Peter Petrelli sat opposite Willow Rosenberg in awe and wonder. He had assumed that Willow had been an empath, like him, or at least someone with a psychic based power. He had come to this conclusion from what she had done in the corridor where he had appeared. He had just found out that Willow wasn't like him at all; that she used actual magic to do what she did; and that she could do just about anything at all. Likewise, Peter was surprised to find that Willow knew nothing of the growing number of 'specials' which were walking around the earth; each having a specific ability. She seemed very interested when Peter told her what his ability was, and what it meant for him.

"We could use you on our team," Willow said. This threw Peter off balance, and he made a couple of noises which he shouldn't have. "You don't have to answer now. Its just something to think about," she added.

Free Jaffa Cargo Ship – Near the Ionian Nebula

Illyria dropped the cargo ship out of hyperspace right next to the Asgard vessel which was probing the barrier.

"Attention Asgard vessel. This is Illyria, ruler of the primordium. You will cease your attempts to penetrate this barrier, or suffer the consequences," Illyria said quickly. Immediately Illyria felt the grip of an Asgard transport beam. This time, she allowed herself to be disintegrated in the Asgard transport beam. Once her shell had been disintegrated, she hijacked the energy stream of the transport beam and used the Asgard's own transport technology against them, reintegrating herself on the Asgard's bridge, rather than a holding cell which they initially intended to put her in. Illyria had a control over energy which the Asgard did not, and could not understand. Once they had made the mistake of trying to transport her over to their ship, she was able to use the energy stream against them. As soon as her shell had been reintegrated, she was moving as fast as she could. She disabled one of the Asgard's consoles, and moved over and grabbed another one by the neck. "Halt or this one dies," Illyria said. Since their race was so technology orientated, this ship only needed two Asgard to operate it properly, and Illyria was threatening the life of one of them. Illyria now considered her options. She could kill the Asgard whose neck was now in her hand, and then take the other one. This would leave a drifting Asgard ship, which would surely attract unwanted attention to this area of space. She was unable to pilot the ship herself, not knowing enough about Asgard systems. She could ask the Asgard to leave, but Illyria was sure that they would not, and would make an attempt to destroy or imprison her. That left only one option; make the Asgard pilot the ship towards the barrier, kill them both, and transport back over to her ship, allowing the barrier to destroy the Asgard ship.

Illyria watched out of the view-screen of the cargo ship at the Asgard vessel was destroyed by the immense energies of the barrier. She had managed to blackmail the Asgard onboard to set a course towards the barrier, and then had killed them in the process. She knew now that the Asgard would seek vengeance against her, and that in her current form, she wouldn't be able to defend herself to the ability she would have liked. It was only because the Asgard were not used to her hijacking their technology that she was able to achieve her results today; next time, she would not be so lucky. This brought Illyria to the fact that the Asgard must have had a reason to try to breach the barrier. Illyria could only think of one reason, and that was that the Asgard had learned of her own return. Illyria concluded that it had been the army base which oversaw operation of the Chapa'aii on Earth which notified the Asgard of her return and subsequent use of the Chapa'aii. Illyria had been confined to this shell for over five years now, and this day was the first that the Asgard made their presence known to her. If they had known of her return beforehand, Illyria expected that they would have attempted to do something about her much earlier. She knew that the humans on Earth would have told the Asgard, but she thought she'd had a bit more time. This development required that she speed up her plans. Subsequently, Illyria needed to travel to Kobol post haste and investigate what was on the other side of the planet.


	5. Chapter 5

Authors Notes: Thanks to all the reviewers. You're keeping me going on this story, so far. Another short chapter. Some things are starting to move along nicely. I really need a bit of time to sit down and hammer out a big chapter and get to where I'm going to. I can see multiple endings with this story, and I can also see this story expanding into one which is 200,000 words or so. I don't think I'll do that, but I might tie it into a series of BtVS stories which are already that length (I've mentioned it before), or not.

Anyway, happy reading, and leave plenty of reviews

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**Chapter 5**

Stargate Command

Cameron Mitchell took immediate stock of the man who walked into the briefing room, obviously in charge. There were two others with him, a young woman and another man, significantly younger, but Mitchell wasn't interested in them. He was interested in their leader. The man who had been dispatched by the President to brief General Landry, SG1 and the Nox on a situation which no one at the SGC had the clearance to know about. Already Cameron could tell that the man had been hardened through battle, and had already seen enough to last a lifetime. He carried himself well, and exuded an air of confidence which only came with the knowledge that he was about to unleash a hornets nest within the SGC.

"General Landry," the man asked while looking at the General.

"Yes," Cameron saw Landry reply.

"Colonel Riley Finn of O-Ops," the man replied. He introduced his friends as well, before Landry introduced him to SG1 and the three Nox who were also attending the meeting. "I'm here regarding your attempts to find information regarding Wolfram and Hart, as well as a request from the President to brief you regarding the situation that our organisation deals with," Colonel Finn stated.

"I'm sure we'll be very interested to hear what you have to say Colonel Finn," Landry said. "If you will proceed?"

"I am aware that the Nox here have briefed you about some aspects of what i'm about to say, but without knowing what's been said, I believe I'll just start from the beginning," Finn commented. Cameron saw that he received a couple of nods from the Nox. "Our organisation was formed as an offshoot of the failed _Initiative _project to protect the civilian population from hostile sub-terrestrials, or HSTs for short. HSTs are commonly vampires, werewolves, and various hostile demons, but we've encountered some 'other' things during our missions," Colonel Finn said while sharing a glance with his team mates. "Yes, before you say anything, there are really such things as vampires and werewolves, and demons too. Unlike common legends, vampires are not allergic to garlic. A wooden stake, beheading, burning or sunlight are the only ways to kill a vampire. They are the most populous demon variety on earth, and have increased senses, speed, dexterity and strength than normal humans," Finn said. "Our operation used to seek out these creatures, determine if they were hostile, and exterminate them," Finn explained. Cameron saw him pause, obviously letting all in the room absorb the information. "Additionally, our role was to seek down leads on possible apocalypses. We would try to prevent them if necessary, or advise the big guns if we couldn't handle it ourselves. Many higher level demons on earth want to open a portal to a dimension infested with demons, letting them through. Doing this would certainly cause an apocalypse on Earth, as we know it. The world would be overrun with demons and other creatures which would be too powerful for us to control," Finn stated.

"Like Illyria?" Cameron asked, hoping to put Finn on the spot. He could tell that there was a lot that Finn wasn't telling them, and this was confirmed when one of Finn's team mates winced in their seat at that name.

"From what we know of Illyria, she's a complicated issue," Finn replied. Cameron saw him look around the room before continuing, probably to see if anyone was interested in what he was about to say. Cameron for one, was very interested. Whenever something was 'complicated', it meant it was interesting. "A group that we knew of, who we had on good authority were on our side, were offered jobs at the Los Angeles Wolfram and Hart branch, and they took them and ran the place for a year," Finn stated. "Wolfram and Hart, although a law company on the front, is one of the most malevolent organisations in this dimension," Finn stated.

"As well as in many others," Lya of the Nox expanded. Cameron saw Finn nod to this, before continuing.

"They are involved many of the averted apocalypses, as well as funding and organising hundreds of HSTs, and our people took over their Los Angeles office. Initially, we thought that they'd do good with the place, but from what we could tell of their actions, they were supporting Wolfram and Hart," Finn said. "We were wrong. They were working to take down Wolfram and Hart from the inside the entire time. Unfortunately, during their operation, one of their team members, Winifred Burkle, was exposed to Illyria's sarcophagus, and was killed in Illyria's resurrection as she overtook Ms. Burkle's body," Finn stated. "Our friends then managed to sway Illyria over to their side, and took out the Los Angeles Offices of Wolfram and Hart, as well as the Circle of the Black Thorn, one of the most influential groups in the occult world, working for Wolfram and Hart. Illyria was the only survivor of Wolfram and Hart's retribution," Finn explained.

Cameron sat there, and listened as Finn explained the rest of the situation. The Nox asked about the Slayer, and why there were so many of them now, and Finn and his team explained a number of circumstances which led to there being many Slayers now. What was interesting to notice though, was when Finn explained that the organisation which helped the Slayer, the Watching Council or something like that, was gathering resources and personnel so that they could start to make an offensive against Wolfram and Hart, across multiple dimensions. Finn then had to reassure Carter that magic was real, and existed, and offered to show her a demonstration at a later time when they brought one of their witches in. Throughout the entire speech, he described tactics and various weapons and facilities which could be very beneficial to the SGC. He was interrupted as Walter came into the room.

"General. There's a woman named Rosenberg upstairs with another man, demanding to speak to whoever is in charge," Walter said.

Ionian Nebula – Goa'uld Cargo Ship - Hyperspace

No matter what Illyria found here at the Ionian Nebula, she would just examine it / them and then proceed on to Kobol. Since discovering the Asgard vessel probing the mystical barrier surrounding hundreds of light years of space, in which Kobol was central, finding out what happened to her brethren was of the upmost importance. She could not have the Asgard call on the Nox and Ascended to stop her; she would not win. It was the first time since her reincarnation into the human shell that Illyria felt, not afraid, but cautious, of her continuing existence. She was therefore forced to go back to Kobol and investigate the mysterious presence which she had sensed on the opposite side of the planet than the Stargate. It may be something which could lead to her resurrection into her former self; or at least allow her to modify her shell so it could handle a significantly higher proportion of her power than the current one.

Emerging from Hyperspace, Illyria reached out with her senses, and detected groupings of organic life not too far away. She made a short hyperspace jump to their location, and immediately cloaked the cargo ship after emerging from hyperspace. She saw in front of her a variety of ships, many of them looking worn and depreciated. They were warring with other ships, which the sensors on the cargo ship could discern were part biological in nature. Illyria watched the conflict, realising that the defending ships were likely a refugee fleet, while the other ones were their oppressors. Illyria watched the conflict for a few moments, discerning that there was no technology which was a threat to her. She had just turned the cargo ship away from the skirmish, on a course for Kobol, and was going to enter hyperspace when explosions of magical energy assaulted her senses from the battle behind her. She turned the ship to see the defending fleet leaving in flashes of white light, letting off huge bursts of energy which rippled the space and dark energy around them. It was faster than light technology which The Old Ones had developed for their armies millennia ago, which Illyria had a hand in developing herself. Even the Ancients and Asgard wanted to reverse engineer the technology, but the Old Ones ensured that it never happened. Illyria could tell that it had been heavily modified, how or the effects of which, she could not tell, but the basis of the technology belonged to her race. The only way to trace the FTL jumps was to sense where the disturbance of dark matter and magical energy occurred when exiting the jump. Illyria knew that the jump that the ships took would not be far. Illyria's estimates of the humans level of technology inferred that the Nebula may interfere with their sensors, thus limiting the distance of their jump. Illyria could not rely on this fact however, as she would have never expected them to have the Old Ones' FTL technology. Reaching out with her senses, Illyria only had to wait a few moments before she detected a similar magical disturbance nearby, approximately seven light years away. She now had a choice; proceed onto Kobol, or to travel to the location of the human fleet and investigate the source of their jump drive, hoping that the humans were descendants of the humans which Illyria's brethren had taken to Kobol a millennia ago.

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**Authors Notes**: Can you tell that I like to leave things open a bit? Next couple of chapters, things will start moving as well. Also, there'll be some added emphasis on the Illyria sections (as this was designed as primarily an Illyria fanfiction). Like what you read? Leave a review! It will be much appreciated.


	6. Chapter 6

**Authors Notes**: This chapter was meant to be much longer, but I've changed my mind and this is it now. Things are starting to move along quicker. Also, there's one thing that I'm going to point out. Although the SGC, BtVS Characters and Heroes characters have entered this story, this story will most likely NOT expand into a huge fanfiction which sees ALL storylines resolved. The main focus of this story is on Illyria. Although these other characters/fandoms will play a role in Illyria's story, their stories will not be wrapped up at the conclusion of Illyria's (the end of this story). I have no further plans to develop alternate stories in this universe, however, leaving it open like this will allow me to in the future if I wish. Just thought I'd give the readers a heads up about that.

Thanks for the reviews! Enjoy

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**Chapter 6**

Stargate Command

Peter Petrelli couldn't believe what he'd been through in the last twenty four hours. He thought that it would be just a simple task to start with, and that it wouldn't get this complicated this quickly. But of course, in that respect, he was wrong. After showing up to protect Willow Rosenberg, he'd had his entire mind blown with the existence of magic and the world just beyond the sight of many people; of vampires, demons and Slayers. Then, after further discussions with Willow, he'd learnt the facts which seemed to piece everything that he'd done in the last three years together. The Company, which had switched its mission more times that Peter could remember, was being controlled by Wolfram and Hart. It turned out that Willow's group had been able to find records of Linderman, Maurie Parkman and Arthur Petrelli, his father, being employed by Wolfram and Hart before they started up The Company. They had all worked for a law firm who were responsible for the gradual degradation of the human race, and was ultimately being run by super-demons in another dimension. Peter had insisted that maybe The Company had been formed as a means of eventually taking down Wolfram and Hart, but Willow had insisted that once someone was employed with Wolfram and Hart, they never let go. Together, he and Willow had taken the gamble that since three members of The Company founders had been compromised by Wolfram and Hart, that they all must be; and Charles Deveaux's message to Peter to protect Willow couldn't be trusted.

Peter, Willow and other senior members of the facility which Peter teleported to had deduced that maybe Wolfram and Hart didn't want Willow to talk to the government agency coming after her; the reason they sent Peter to keep Willow from the government. Willow had then decided, based on unproven fact and complete speculation, that it might be in her best interests to show up at the facility which she had tracked down on their front doorstep and see what was going on. So here they were, standing on the wrong side of a chain-link fence separating them from the entrance to the government facility etched into the side of Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado. Peter knew that if the people in this facility found out about what he could do, or what Willow could do, if they didn't already know, that it would mean trouble for them both; Wolfram and Hart be damned. If they found out about Peter or Willow, it may bring one of the many futures that Peter had seen over the last three years; conscription of specials into military ranks, the government tracking down specials to study them, and even riots and fighting between specials and normal humans happening. Peter was not going to let that happen by divulging anything more than he had to today, and he was going to make sure Willow didn't either.

Daniel Jackson could see that Riley Finn had straightened when Walter mentioned that this girl, Willow Rosenberg, was upstairs and had requested to see whoever ran the base.

"I want all corridors except the ones from the elevator to this debriefing room sealed off, immediately," Landry said to Walter. "If we bring them into the base, I don't want them to see anything they don't have to." Daniel watched as Landry's eyes sweeped the room. "Daniel, let's go meet our new guests."

Kobol

Illyria stood, watching the artificial barrier in front of her, looking for a weakness to punch through. It was resonating to her, through the rock. Something was inside this cliff, something calling to her. It was powerful and ancient, and Illyria had a suspicion to what it was. She had chosen to come straight to Kobol and leave the human fleet which was using a derivative of the Old One's jump drives. Her mission was not to explore the galaxy and seek out other civilizations, but to find a way to restore herself to her former glory. While the humans possessed technology developed by the Old Ones, that did not mean that they knew of the Old Ones, or were in contact with them or being influenced by them. Illyria knew that her companions had fled to Kobol, so it was there that she'd start. But something inside her contested that decision, not for the logical reasons, but for something which Illyria was becoming more and more frustrated every day. She suspected it was because of the Burkle infection which had been plaguing her ever since she was reborn into this shell. There was a nagging essence, wanting to go to the humans, telling Illyria that she should abandon Kobol for now. It was the same essence which had taught her how to improve her interactions with humans, but this time, Illyria decided to ignore it.

Instead, Illyria focused on the rock wall before her. She could sense that she was getting close – the vibrations of the rock in front of her, being caused by whatever was inside the mountain, were getting larger, indicating that the rock was thinning. It didn't take her long to come to the place where the vibrations were largest. Summoning up her strength, Illyria punched the wall, her fist driving itself into the rock and shattering it. She did so again, and again, and again, until there was an opening, revealing a large cavern on the other side.

Illyria stepped into the cavern, surprised by the sight in front of her. Numerous force-fields, magical barriers, and spells were intermingled and wove together in the air in front of her; and they were powerful too. At first glance, they seemed powerful enough even to keep Illyria out. She could see archaic symbols moving across the walls of the cavern, side effects of powerful wards and spells. There was a space though, that Illyria could step into without worry. She did so, and saw writing appear on the wall behind her, in a language she had thought was long dead. Illyria read it, surprised at what she learned.

_"Here lay Zeus, Apollo, Dionysus, Hera, Ares, Mars and Jupiter, the Lords of Kobol and some of the last remaining rulers from the primordium."_

Illyria looked through all the force-fields and magical barriers, and she could see seven sarcophagi, not unlike her own, spiralled around a central pier. It was then that Illyria was thrown back, out of the cavern and into the forest outside. She regained her footing, and could sense something worrying. She caught something out of the corner of her eye, and could see five distinct wisps of energy coming towards her: ascended beings.


	7. Chapter 7

_**Author's Note:**__New chapter here finally. Thanks for the reviews – and yes, I do agree, that the last couple of chapters were rather short and felt like summaries. I'm at a time in my life that I'm just happy to get something out, even if it is bad. This is much better though, because I decided to not do it half-assed and give it a proper length. More A/N at the bottom. Don't forget, leave plenty of reviews!_

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Chapter 7

Stargate Command

It was only now, once Willow had come into the belly of the mountain, that she noticed that all the side corridors had been closed off. Walking through the belly of the beast; through the facility which existed beneath NORAD, and which was supposedly a deep space telemetry research station, Willow realised that these people were hiding something pretty big. To her surprise, Riley Finn had greeted them at the entrance, and was seeming to be a go-between for both sides. Willow noticed that he was the only one who seemed to know what was going on, on both sides. He had assured the people at the base that Willow, and by default, Peter, didn't pose any serious security risks and that it would probably be beneficial for both parties to sit down somewhere and have a chat. Obviously the military here wanted something from her, or Willow doubted that she and Peter would have been granted access into this place.

As they rounded the corner, Willow could see that they had arrived at their destination, or so she hoped. In the room before her, there was a large conference table with assorted people sitting around it; and from the feelings that she could get from three of them, some not-quite humans too. Willow immediately noticed that the guards, with fairly large guns, were staying out of the room, but standing by the doorway; blocking their exit. Willow could also see that there was another doorway at the other end of the room, but it appeared to lead into an office. She looked to Peter and noticed that he was doing the same as her; assessing their exits. She gave a small nod to him, summarising that she noticed what they'd have to do if they needed an exit. Her attention then immediately turned to the two human like creatures which were sitting at the briefing table. Willow could feel energy radiating off of them, but it was unlike anything she had ever sensed before. She didn't have much more time to pry into these beings as she came across a metaphysical brick wall, one which she guessed had been put up by the beings in question. She decided not to try and get around it, for now. There was one interesting thing she had learned however; these were definitely the creatures which had sought her out when she had been in Cleveland.

"Willow, this is General Landry, the commander of this base. General Landry, this is Willow Rosenberg and Peter Petrelli," Riley Finn stated. Willow eyed the man; he was rather short and plump, but his eyes portrayed a strong intelligence and a sharp brain.

"Hello General," Willow said.

"Good Afternoon General," Peter said as well.

"This is Samantha Carter, Daniel Jackson, Cameron Mitchell and Teal'c, members of a team based out of this facility," Landry stated. "While this is Lya, Interprid and Tryn of the Nox." Willow nodded and saw Peter do the same. "Please, have a seat," Landry said while gesturing towards two chairs which had been made available. Willow sat, feeling uncomfortable, and quite frankly, like she was back at school and she had just done something bad. She knew in her head that she shouldn't and that she had more of a right to start demanding things than they did, she just needed to convince herself of that now.

"General, I trust you know why we're here?" Willow asked. "Someone from this base tried to locate me with their mind, and started to pry into business which is none of theirs," Willow said before the General could say anything. She was trying to put him off guard; as off-guard as she was now. It was a long time since the Initiative, and she'd had a lot of experience dealing with Riley's new group, but it still didn't ease her fears. Even with Riley present, and unusually silent, her nerves about this military installation were at an all time high. "What I would like to know, is why you were looking for the Slayers, and how you knew what to look for, and how to look personally," Willow said. She was hoping that by just dropping mention of the Slayers into the mix, as she had just done, would throw the General off some more. She saw the General put his hands up in defence and collect his thoughts. She could sense that he was just about to start talking, when one of the Nox began.

"It was not General Landry which sought you or the Slayer out. It was us," Willow guessed. She knew that it was those Nox creatures which sat across the table, she didn't have to be told that; she was guessing that they were under the control of the military, or at least being influenced by them. "We did it of our own accord, in order to help General Landry and the people of this facility; help which they asked us for," Lya said. "We are seeking information pertaining to Wolfram and Hart, a multi-dimensional organisation which is very powerful. The people of this facility were having no luck with their information systems, so we thought we'd try to track down the current Slayer, hoping that she would have some information. Instead, to our surprise, we found that there were thousands of them, and that each one of them was connected to you," Lya of the Nox said. It was a lot said at once, but Willow managed to digest all the information and processes it. For some reason, this organisation was seeking out Wolfram and Hart, which was never a good thing. They used their allies, whoever they were; probably beings from another dimension, to try to track down a lead, the Slayer, who they could ask about the current status of Wolfram and Hart.

"Why are you seeking out Wolfram and Hart?" Willow asked. She didn't know if they were trying to make an alliance with them, or if they'd stumbled into Wolfram and Hart's operations, or vice versa. If they were seeking out Wolfram and Hart for, pleasant reasons, there might be something that Willow and the Watchers Council would have to do about it. After all, they were getting ready to launch a multi-dimensional war against Wolfram and Hart; the last thing they needed was Wolfram and Hart influencing the military on their back doorstep against them.

"A number of days ago, a creature called Illyria visited this facility and managed, from what we could tell, to travel to her homeworld. When we discovered this fact, we were most alarmed as our race was involved in imprisoning the Old Ones inside the Deeper Well. We came here to investigate, and to offer assistance to locate Illyria and determine whether she posed a significant threat," Interprid of the Nox explained. Willow was busy simultaneously digesting this information, and communicating with Peter through his telepathic powers at the same time.

"Who's Illyria? Do you know what's going on?" Peter asked telepathically.

"Stop. These Nox will probably be able to hear everything we say in here. Shut your mind down and don't let anything leave that you don't want to. From what I can tell, this is a very dangerous situation we're in at the moment."Willow replied. If these Nox creatures had been involved in imprisoning the Old Ones in the Deeper Well, it would make their race very old and very powerful.

"You said Illyria managed to travel to her homeworld?" Willow asked. "Why would she do that from here and not anywhere else? If she had the power to open a portal, she could have done it from anywhere," Willow stated. Willow saw that everyone who was in a military uniform in the room immediately went on guard with that statement. She could also see that no one was answering and that they were hiding something.

"This facility has a device called a Stargate which opens a wormhole to other Stargates, situated on differing planets, throughout a number of galaxies," Riley Finn said. "Illyria used the Stargate to travel to her homeworld," he further explained. Willow could see the General, as well as the rest of the military people, glaring at Riley. If what he said were true, it would have amazing implications for life on Earth.

'So you're saying that you can go to other planets?" Willow asked.

"Yes," Willow saw the man with glasses, who seemed to give off less of a military vibe, say. She knew that she'd been introduced to him, but couldn't remember his name at the moment.

"And Illyria's gone through this device, which lets you go to other planets, to her homeworld?" Willow asked again, making sure that she was getting it all right. Again, the man with glasses nodded. "I'd say just leave her there," Willow said. She saw that a number of people, including the Nox, were giving her a confused look.

"Illyria was pretty harmless when she came to us. Well, not harmless, she could have killed us all if she wanted to, but she didn't. She didn't want to. She seemed fairly bored when she came to us. I think that if you go chasing her across the galaxy, which I'm still trying to wrap my head around that you can do that, that'll just make her mad and come after you, especially if you were involved in trapping her kind in the Deeper Well," Willow said.

"We were not trying to apprehend her. We were merely going to seek her out and discern whether she was a threat to life in this galaxy," Lya said. That seemed fair enough to Willow, but she was doubting the Nox' intentions.

"Why don't you do that? You have a device to transport you to the same place she went to, then why not go there and determine whether she is a threat?" Peter Petrelli asked.

"The gate that Illyria travelled to is locked. There is also an impenetrable barrier spanning thousands of light years surrounding the area of space that she went to. We believe it was created by the Old Ones eons ago, before life as we know it came to this galaxy," Tryn of the Nox replied. "We learned that Wolfram and Hart played a role in Illyria's resurrection. We were trying to determine how Illyria was brought into this world, and what her current state of mind was, so that we could determine whether she was a threat or not," she added.

"Well, I can tell you her state of mind," Willow said. She looked to everyone, who were all looking at her with interest. "As I said before, she doesn't really want to harm anyone. She is trapped inside a body which was much, much, much less powerful than hers before, and she is merely looking for ways to stifle the so-called 'boredom'. When we last communicated with her, she was still upholding a promise she had made to her mentor that she wouldn't harm humans, unless necessary," Willow said.

"When was this?" Interprid of the Nox queried.

"About three years ago," Willow stated. "I'm guessing that she travelled back to her homeworld to escape the boredom of the slime beneath her feet which now dominates Earth," Willow said. She noticed that there were various people who were looking at her strangely. "It's what she calls humans," Willow elaborated. There was a short silence in the room as everyone dwelled upon what had been said in the discussion.

"Willow, is it in your opinion that Illyria may side with this Wolfram and Hart organisation at some time?" the General asked her. It was a good question, and Willow could tell that the General was trying to determine whether Illyria may be used as a direct threat against them in the future.

"I doubt that," Willow replied. "As I just said, Illyria views humanity as the 'slime beneath her feet'. If we're slime, then Illyria sees Wolfram and Hart as ants," Willow explained. She knew that Illyria probably didn't view them so small now, once her power was drained, but she wasn't going to let this facility know that. It was up to the Watchers Council to deal with Wolfram and Hart, not these people. Even if they dealt with aliens, as Riley had said, they weren't ready for Wolfram and Hart, not yet. But, perhaps, recruiting these Nox onto their cause – to wage a multi-dimensional war against Wolfram and Hart, and win – would be beneficial. She'd have to consult with the senior staff once she went back.

"Peter Petrelli. I understand why Willow is here. It was her that sensed our probe into the Slayer. But, I am unaware of why you are here?" Lya of the Nox asked. Willow was put off a bit by that question, it had been thrown at Peter out of the blue, and she could see him trying to come up with an answer.

'You know, I'm just here along for the ride," Peter said.

"I can sense that there's a slight anomaly with your physiology," Interprid of the Nox said to him. Willow knew that this was not good. Peter really didn't want this government to know about the special humans out there, especially the fact that, according to Peter, he was one of the most powerful of them. Willow reached out with her senses and started to build an invisible, magical shield around Peter in an attempt to cloak him from these Nox.

"Yeah, well, I was dropped on my head when I was young," Peter replied. Willow could see the Nox' attention had turned from Peter to her, obviously because of the fact that she was shielding Peter.

"General. We've all had a large amount of information land in each of our laps. I'm still trying to get over the fact that aliens are real and that you can go to other planets. Can Peter and I have a minute please?" Willow stated.

"Yes, of course. I suggest we reconvene here in an hour. Willow, Peter, the guards will show you to somewhere where you can talk in private," the General said. With that, Willow and Peter got up and left the briefing room.

Kobol

Illyria stood, watching the ascended beings approach her. She could sense that these ascended beings were not the same beings which had ascended from Earth, the Ancients, as the tau'ri called them. She knew that physically, these ascended beings could rip her to shreds, but once they breached her shell, the five of them would have a hard time trying to attack her life essence, what little of that remained inside the shell. It was for that reason that Illyria was not considering tactical moves against them. She watched as the five ascended beings took human form in front of her. She opened up her mind just a little, allowing the ascended to communicate with her.

"You are not permitted to enter the tomb of the Gods," they said telepathically to Illyria in unison.

"And who are you to stop me, ascended," Illyria replied.

"We are the priests of the final five, the final Lords of Kobol, last rulers of the primordium,"the ascended replied.

"I am Illyria, ruler of the primordium. Tell me what has happened here," Illyria replied, opening her mind a bit more and projecting her recent memories to the ascended beings, allowing them to know that she told them the truth. In turn, the ascended did likewise, showing her what had happened to the Old Ones which were currently imprisoned.

Illyria was not surprised to find that in-fighting had began amongst the Old Ones who had come to Kobol around 10,000 years ago to escape imprisonment within the Deeper Well. At the height of this conflict, which had been reflected in the human tribes which worshiped the Old Ones, one of the Old Ones attempted to breach the barrier surrounding this area of space and inform the alliance between the Ancients, Nox, Asgard and Furlings of their location, in order to get rid of the other Old Ones a as the thirteenth, Iblis, fled and survived. This had been discovered and stopped. The retribution from the other Old Ones had been swift, and Iblis had been destroyed. Humanity had united and as one, had banished the thirteenth tribe from Kobol, transporting them back to Earth, stripping their technology, and preventing them from returning to Kobol again. The twelve tribes had then returned to Kobol, but not long after, in-fighting had began between the twelve remaining Old Ones, and humanity decided to part ways with their lords. During the peak of the conflict, during the death of Athena and Artemis, humanity fled for twelve distant worlds to escape the conflict. In-fighting between the Lords of Kobol continued until there were only seven remaining. They were dying, having been exhausted in the in-fighting. They had created priests in their image, the ascended beings which were located in front of Illyria, to act as caretakers for their own tombs. It was during this time that the Senior Partners themselves of the Wolf, Ram and Hart, as well as The First Evil, had managed to gain access to Kobol. They had been advised by the tribe which had returned to Earth of the location of Kobol and the last remaining Old Ones. A brutal conflict between the Old Ones, the armies of the Wolf, Ram and Hart, The First Evil, and the Senior Partners had ensued. The seven priests of the Lords of Kobol were reduced to five, and the Lords themselves were imprisoned within the tomb, Wolf, Ram and the Hart using a concept similar to the Deeper Well. Illyria was surprised that the Old Ones succumbed to the Wolf, Ram and Hart so easily, however she remembered that they were, according to Illyria, the weakest of the Old Ones, and they had been weakened already. Illyria then saw that the Senior Partners had cast powerful magics on the tomb, preventing the Old Ones from resurrection into any form. Illyria then saw that the Senior Partners had effectively neutered the five remaining priests of the Lords of Kobol, preventing them from interfering with humanity on any level. The priests had found a way around this, when they discovered intelligent, self-aware mechanical constructs, created by humanity, experimenting with biological technology. The priests had allowed these mechanical constructs to progress their technology, and had split their own consciousness into two; one remaining with the ascended being, and one being inserted into the first five models of bio-mechanical constructs which had been created, thus allowing the ascended beings to interact with humanity directly.

This brought great hope to Illyria. There were surviving individuals of her race left, even though they were imprisoned within the tomb in front of her and protected by powerful magics. There was nothing that she could do about the magics, she was an Old One, once the most powerful Old One in her known existence, however she was restricted by the usefulness of her shell, and her shell did not have any natural ability for magic. Sure, she could manipulate time, increase her senses, and open portals, but those were Illyria's inherent abilities. The skills needed to break the spells binding the remaining Old Ones, were not currently available to herself. There was only one being she knew of which might have a chance at breaking the magical seals; the read-headed witch which was aligned with the Slayers on Earth. If she were not able to breach the seals, then Illyria would search the galaxy for another being who could.

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**Author's Notes:** Sorry for the delay in posting a new chapter, the "Kobol" bit took me weeks to come up with. I'm personally not happy with it – I came up with a scenario which had EVERY fandom fitting in with the Old Ones/Lords of Kobol's exodus/death from Kobol, but that was right before I went to sleep. I woke up the next day, not able to remember what I had come up with, and have been spending the last 3 weeks trying to no avail. What's above isn't it, but it will do! Oh, by the way, I have a way to fit in the origin of the "heroes" into the Old Ones/Lords of Kobol death / humanity's exodus from Kobol – keep reading in thenext few chapters to find out what it is! Leave plenty of reviews! Cheers! 


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